As Sheffield becomes the UK’s newest City of Languages, Twinkl, the digital provider of educational resources founded in Sheffield in 2010 by Jon and Susie Seaton, is supporting the initiative by offering free resources to help celebrate the importance of heritage and languages both at school and at home.
With over 120 languages spoken in the city region, thanks to a legacy of migration and global connections dating back to the 16th century, Sheffield’s vibrant educational and cultural landscape has contributed significantly to promoting multilingualism over the years, and provided inspiration for Twinkl, which currently offers resources in over 20 languages.
Aligned with the company’s mission to ‘help those who teach’ Twinkl’s Lightning Languages team has created two free collections of resources in partnership with the Sheffield City of Languages initiative and the Association for Language Learning (ALL). At the heart of this collaboration is Ursa Lingua, a curious polar bear character inspired by the 2021 Bear Sculpture Trail in Sheffield, that aims to spark children’s curiosity, inspire language learning, cultural exploration, empathy and global citizenship.
“Having both studied in Sheffield, Susie and I are overjoyed to see Sheffield officially recognised as a City of Languages”, said Jon Seaton, CEO of Twinkl Educational Publishing. “With our headquarters being located here since the company was founded, Twinkl’s connection to Sheffield is understandably strong, and it makes us extremely proud to be able to support the Sheffield City of Languages initiative.”
Headed up by senior lecturer in languages education Dr Sabine Little (University of Sheffield) and home heritage community languages lead Clare Allison, the City of Languages team added: “We are very lucky to have Twinkl on our doorstep here in Sheffield, bringing together so much pedagogical expertise and passion. The Sheffield City of Languages initiative is built on a longstanding commitment to multilingualism and language learning within the city, as we also have a branch for the Association for Language Learning that has been active in the city for over 30 years.
“Many teachers and educators are helping children and young people to develop the skills to thrive in a multilingual and multicultural society, so being able to support this work through the resources developed, local to the city of Sheffield, is simply wonderful!”
